Newbie Guide - Training for Faction Warfare

Maybe it's time to do a few short tutorials on faction warfare, for the new player. This skill plan focuses strongly on a single faction and a single weapon type, but you can switch out for another faction and weapon type easily enough, and the skill plan will more than accommodate those changes.

The one weakness of this skill plan is in the area of drones. Only the most basic skills are included, and then near the end of each skill plan. So, if you wish to focus on Gallente, you might want to add some further drone support skills into the planning equation.

So, this plan focuses on getting you into Minmatar ships. These are versatile PvP ships that have remained popular for a long period of time. Plus, we'll be focusing on projectile weapons, they have range versatility and give you greater fitting and capacitor flexibility.

First things first. Getting you into the Thrasher. The most versatile lowsec PvP ship there is. Doesn't really matter what faction you decide to join, the Thrasher is a popular learning ship for all newbros.

This initial skill plan will take all of the important fitting and PvP skills to level three. This is a ten day skill plan. You'll be flying a Thrasher in the first few hours, but in little over a week, you'll have some basic gunnery and fitting skills, making it a bit easier to fit out your ship.

Minmatar Frigate III
Small Projectile Turret III
Propulsion Jamming III
Afterburner III
High Speed Maneuvering III
Mechanics III
Hull Upgrades III
Repair Systems III
Electronics III
Engineering III
Electronics Upgrades III
Gunnery III
Targeting III
Spaceship Command III
Destroyers III
Science III
Cybernetics I
Long Range Targeting III
Signature Analysis III
Rapid Firing III
Sharpshooter III
Motion Prediction III
Weapon Upgrades III
Mechanics III
Acceleration Control III
Evasive Maneuvering III
Fuel Conservation III
Warp Drive Operation III
Energy Systems Operation III
Energy Grid Upgrades III
Energy Management III
Missile Launcher Operation III
Gunnery IV
Trajectory Analysis III
Surgical Strike III
Rockets III
Rapid Launch III
Drones III
Scout Drone Operation III
Jury Rigging III
Armor Rigging I
Astronautics Rigging I
Projectile Weapon Rigging I
Drones Rigging I
Launcher Rigging I
Shield Rigging I

Some of these skills may already be at level III when your character is first created (Electronics and Engineering, for example), so ignore entries where your starting skills are already at the appropriate level.

Once you get Cybernetics I, look into buying a set of +3 learning implants (search "- Basic") to speed up your skill queue.

The following advanced skill plan will raise certain key skills to level five, while furthering other fitting and PvP skills to level four. It will introduce you into cruisers and battlecruisers, and the use of medium-sized weaponry. This advanced skill plan will require another 100 days of training. But it definitely sets up a very strong base for all further training you might wish to do, no matter which faction's ships you'll train from here.

Minmatar Frigate V
Destroyers V
Gunnery V
Small Projectile Turret V
Small Autocannon Specialization III
Small Artillery Specialization III
Electronics V
Engineering V
Science IV
Thermodynamics III
Targeting V
Long Range Targeting IV
Trajectory Analysis IV
Surgical Strike IV
Signature Analysis IV
Rapid Firing IV
Sharpshooter IV
Motion Prediction IV
Weapon Upgrades IV
Mechanics V
Hull Upgrades V
Acceleration Control IV
Evasive Maneuvering IV
Afterburner IV
Fuel Conservation IV
Warp Drive Operation IV
Energy Systems Operation IV
Energy Grid Upgrades IV
Energy Management IV
Drones IV
Scout Drone Operation IV
Medium Projectile Turret III
Minmatar Cruiser III
Spaceship Command IV
Battlecruisers III

If anyone notices any mistake or omissions, or you simply have some suggestions, then feel free to comment. I'm open to making changes to this skill plan if any better ideas are presented.

A helpful forum post to read is Louis deGuerre's Epic Skill Guide.